Thai Salmon

Today I found a definite keeper in one of S's cookbooks. It's another way to do salmon besides my usual mahogany marinated recipe. This one's a Thai-inspired recipe that I adapted from Jill Dupleix's Good Cooking: The New Essentials, and it's really delicious. The chicken stock I used was a commercial one with a high sodium content, so I didn't use any extra salt anywhere, but you still can and I've indicated where in the recipe.

Thai Salmon
Serves 2

2 salmon fillets (I used one large fillet and sliced it in half after pan frying)
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1 lemongrass stalk
2 shallots, finely sliced
1 small red chilli, finely sliced with the seeds removed
4 mushrooms, sliced (I used shiitake)
about 40 g of baby arugula leaves (you could also use baby spinach)
500 ml chicken stock
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp grapeseed oil (or any vegetable or olive oil)
1 Tbsp lime juice
salt and pepper
fresh cilantro for garnish
rice

Put the rice on. Marinate the salmon in the fish sauce in a bowl in the fridge while you cook the rest of the recipe.

Heat the chicken stock in a saucepan. Add the chilli, mushrooms, shallots, lemongrass and sugar. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Heat the oil in the pan over medium heat (level 5 on an electric element). Add the salmon fillets skin side down, and cook for 3 or 4 minutes until the skin is crispy and golden. Turn over the fillet and cook the other side for a minute or two until also golden brown. Ideally, the salmon is still pink inside. Let rest on a plate or cutting board. Season with salt and pepper if the stock you used isn't high sodium.

Divide the arugula leaves among two shallow bowls. Place the salmon on top. Spoon the hot broth mixture around the salmon. Squeeze the juice of half a lime over each bowl and top with fresh cilantro. Serve with a bowl of rice on the side.